


Healing

by snakeofalltrades



Series: In Which Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter Heal Each Other [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Boy-Who-Lived (Harry Potter), Christmas Dinner, Christmas Fluff, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy Has Issues, Draco Malfoy Has a Crush, Draco Malfoy Needs a Hug, Drarry, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Harry Potter Has a Crush, Harry Potter Needs a Hug, Harry Potter is a Good Friend, Hogwarts, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Not Epilogue Compliant, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-War, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Potions Shop Owner Draco Malfoy, Professor Draco Malfoy, Professor Harry Potter, Professor Neville Longbottom, Romantic Fluff, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 06:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19267780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snakeofalltrades/pseuds/snakeofalltrades
Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy are both haunted by the war. A certain turquoise-haired Teddy Lupin brings them together, and they fall in love along the way.





	Healing

**Author's Note:**

> This is part two of the In Which Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter Heal Each Other series. I highly suggest reading the first part, Broken, so that this makes more sense, but like, I mean, you do you.
> 
> This one has a LOT more fluff than the last one, I think, and it's very centered around Teddy Lupin too. Enjoy :)

When Harry Potter meets Teddy Remus Lupin for the first time, it is in pain and with tears.

It is the day -- or two days, or perhaps even a week or two, he couldn’t remember much back then -- after the Battle of Hogwarts, and the wounds that had been torn open by the war are still fresh. Harry doesn’t want to see his godson -- the one that he knows will look like Tonks and Remus, the one that he knows will have a mop of bright turquoise hair upon his small head -- but he knows he has to pay the visit. 

He can’t help but think of how he had once upon a time been just where Teddy Lupin was right now. Orphaned by a war he had no knowledge of, never even having gotten the chance to meet his parents, let alone grow up surrounded by loved ones. But if Harry Potter can give Teddy a childhood better than his own -- better than the Dursleys, better than one with no knowledge of magic -- then he will. He swears it. 

These days, the war is still fresh and the memories plague his every waking thought. And when he sleeps, they plague his dreams, burrowing deep like a parasite until the dreams fester into nightmares. He feels as though he’s bleeding when he wakes up, only to find the liquid running down his face to be tears. 

Harry tries his best to hide all of that when he meets Teddy Lupin. He’s a baby, tiny and curled up in Andromeda Tonks’ arms, but when Harry extends a finger, his bright-haired godson grips it tightly with a tiny hand of his, as though that finger is a lifeline, the only thing tethering him to this world, and Harry knows in that moment that he will never let go. 

But he also knows that he’s in no condition to look after a child. A  _ baby.  _ He knows he cannot take care of an almost-one-year-old if he cannot take care of himself. Andromeda knows it too. So she kindly tells him to take time to heal, that she can watch Teddy for a while until Harry is ready. He promises he’ll come back when he’s found stability, when he’s found peace.

He wants more than anything in the world to vanish, but he has unfinished business still. So he takes care of the Malfoys, standing for them in court even when the rest of the wizarding world eyes him suspiciously for it. He watches as Draco Malfoy finally, for once in his life, is seen as the seventeen-year-old boy he is and relieved of a harsh sentence he didn’t deserve. 

He quits the Auror program.

He vanishes soon after, and relishes in the freedom that comes from going to a place where none of the reporters can follow, none of the press or the media or the  _ Daily Prophet  _ can get to him and ask him to bring up bad memories for their own interests.

The memories do follow, unfortunately. But he has all the time in the world to heal, so that maybe one day they won’t follow him anymore. 

-

When Harry Potter meets Teddy Lupin for the second time, things are getting better. 

Andromeda has shown him pictures of his parents, and nearly three-years-old Teddy’s hair has been bright pink ever since. Harry hurts inside when he sees it, because the last time he saw that shade of pink was walking through the Great Hall, among the bodies that were laid to rest throughout. Two hands, almost touching, reaching out to each other even in death. Tonks’s hair did not change color, even after her heart stopped beating. 

But Teddy does not register the hurt in Harry’s eyes. He only looks at Harry and realizes that he has more family, and when his tiny hand grips onto Harry’s, he smiles. More family. He’s happy about that. Andromeda wanders through Harry’s makeshift home, pouring a cup of tea, and gently asks if he knows when he’ll be coming back to civilization. There’s a light in her eyes and a hint of humor in her tone. 

Harry doesn’t give her an answer. He doesn’t know when he’ll be ready to return. But looking at his godson and listening to him recount stories his grandmother told him about Hogwarts, listening to the stories about Andromeda’s fat old cat back home, Harry knows with a surety he hasn’t felt in a while that he  _ will  _ return, because Teddy Lupin needs him to.

When Draco Malfoy visits him, Harry doesn’t ask who told him where he was. He only watches Draco’s sullen grey eyes and his blonde hair, which for once falls naturally, the way it’s supposed to be. His heart speeds up for reasons he can’t quite fathom. Draco thanks him for the help he gave to his family. He tells Harry about the apothecary he’s opened in Diagon Alley, and Harry is glad he was able to prevent a terrible future for the man in front of him. Draco Malfoy is many things, but a Dark wizard he is not. 

Harry can see how heavily he carries the mark on his left forearm, how heavily he’ll carry it for the rest of his life. He rests his hand on Draco’s and smiles at him.

Draco never visits again. Harry wishes he would.

Teddy Lupin and his grandmother do visit again. Frequently. Throughout the next two years, Harry watches the boy grow out of his bubblegum hair and re-adopt his signature turquoise. He watches as Teddy’s personality begins to shine through -- a kind boy, unhindered and never rueful about his unfortunate past. He has his grandmother, and he has a few wizarding friends -- Bill and Fleur’s daughter Victoire seems to be Teddy’s closest friend as of right now -- and he has Harry Potter, and that is enough for him.

Teddy Lupin chatters until night falls on every day he visits Harry, and Harry listens until night falls and his godson’s eyes begin to droop closed. He listens (for that is what he is good at) and smiles unhesitatingly at all of Teddy’s stories and dreams. 

And soon enough, Harry thinks he’s ready to return to the wizarding world. To London. To  _ Hogwarts.  _ He doesn’t need so much time to think about it when Minerva McGonagall stops by to offer him a job at Hogwarts. As a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. 

-

Harry loses track of how many times he’s seen Teddy Lupin. He visits the boy almost every single day now, Flooing back to the quaint house Andromeda bought, nearer to Hogwarts. Harry of course has his own living quarters, being a professor, but he much prefers spending his evenings grading papers as he listens to Teddy’s stories.

Teddy Lupin is seven years old now.

One night, when Andromeda is out of the house and Harry is sitting by the fireplace, stroking the fat old cat whose name happens to be Shacklow as he watches Teddy play with his blocks on the floor, Teddy looks up. He’s silent for once, and only breaks it by asking Harry, very quietly, why he doesn’t have a mum and dad.

Harry’s heart breaks all over again. He knows Andromeda avoids the topic. But he won’t deny his godson the truth. He tells Teddy about Tonks and Remus, about how they fought bravely and died for a good cause at the hands of an evil man. But he doesn’t want to frighten Teddy, so he recounts all of the good memories he has of his parents too. 

Teddy clambers into Harry’s lap and cries. Harry soothes him, telling him it’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to be scared. He still is, a lot of the time. But Teddy smiles through the tears and tells Harry it’s okay, because " I ’ve got you, Harry."

-

When Draco joins the Hogwarts staff the next fall, replacing Slughorn, Harry is glad to see that his old schoolyard enemy has grown. But then again, so has he. 

Neville joins them too. At first, Draco avoids them, keeping to himself and his classroom in the dungeons. But one November Sunday, after the first Quidditch game of the reason, Draco joins them in their lesson planning session, and Neville and Harry welcome him in as though he’s been joining them since the start of term.

Harry always wakes early, every day, and walks to the top of the Astronomy tower to watch the sunrise. It’s peaceful up there, and he finds that the cold wind brushing against his face and ears calms him. He doesn’t notice that a certain blonde has joined him until he looks over and Draco is standing there, bundled up in warm wool -- warm red and purple rather than Slytherin colors, even though he’s the head of Slytherin house. “I don’t like the cold,” says Draco, and Harry chuckles, his laugh carried away on the wind. 

“Care to join me, Professor?”

He doesn’t know how it happens, but suddenly he’s spending every sunrise on the Astronomy tower talking to Draco Malfoy. They use the excuse of the cold Scottish wind to bundle up together, shoulders touching, just a tad closer than enemies-turned-friends might normally stand. Harry finds himself telling Draco about the years he spent healing in that makeshift house away from the world, where it was peaceful and quiet. Sometimes too quiet, when he could hear nothing but the blood roaring in his ears and the memories of the war. 

Draco tells Harry that that is why he avoided anywhere quiet. Why he opened an apothecary in Diagon Alley as soon as he was out of Hogwarts, where it was always loud with the babble of passerby and shoppers. He couldn’t stand the quiet, because it meant he would be alone with his thoughts. 

Draco tells Harry about Astoria Greengrass, about how even after  _ everything  _ that happened, his parents still wanted him to keep the pureblood Malfoy alive. He didn’t love her. Oftentimes, Harry is told, that’s what happens in pureblood marriages. Oftentimes, the two don’t love each other. The only reason they stay together is the duty of carrying their bloodline on. 

Harry’s heart aches for him in that moment. He hopes that one day, Draco will fall in love and marry who he wishes.

The next week, Harry tells Draco about Teddy Lupin. Teddy is now eight. He’s kind and bubbly and a light in the lives of all who surround him. His hair is always turquoise but he’s developed a talent for changing his appearance to humor others and make them laugh.  _ I like making other people laugh, Harry _ , he once told him.  _ It makes me feel better that they feel better. _ Harry never has met such a pure and innocent soul, but then again, he was raised in a time of war, when being pure and innocent got you killed. 

(Harry doesn’t realize that he once was that pure and innocent soul. Minerva McGonagall is the one who sees it.)

-

The week before the end of term, Harry asks Draco what his plans are for the holidays. They’re up on the Astronomy tower again, even though there’s over a foot of snow already and it keeps falling in fat flakes as they speak. Draco hates the cold, but he comes up to the tower every morning nonetheless.

Draco says he has no plans. His family throws an annual Christmas ball for their family friends, but he hasn’t been in attendance for the past four years. And he doesn’t fancy going this year either. 

Harry offers him an alternative. “Come with me to the Burrow. You’ll be more than welcome, and you can meet Teddy.” Draco swallows the fear of rejection -- he hasn’t spoken to a Weasley in a very, very long time, and he’s sure they’ll still hate him -- and says that yes, of course he’ll go. 

The first time Draco Malfoy meets Teddy Lupin, it’s in a cramped household, surrounded by redheads.

Draco wouldn’t have it any other way as Teddy, several front teeth missing, smiles up at him and asks if he’s the Uncle Draco that Harry has been talking nonstop about. Draco pretends not to see Harry blushing furiously out of the corner of his eye. Teddy, just as Harry said, has bright turquoise hair and is the happiest soul of the many that cram into the Burrow for the holidays that year. 

Draco spends every spare moment with Teddy. His second cousin, once-removed, is someone he quickly learns he would do anything for. They spend hours talking about Hogwarts, about Victoire (who is now six, and still Teddy’s best friend of all the young Weasleys), and about Harry. 

The tips of Teddy’s curly turquoise hair turn all the way blonde somewhere along the way. Draco doesn’t notice it. Harry does, and knows Teddy well enough to know his godson did it completely subconsciously. 

Mrs. Weasley is the first to come around to the fact that Draco Malfoy is in her home and has changed a lot in the last few years. She’s the one who first notices how he and Harry Potter look at each other. She spends the hours past midnight, after everyone has gone to bed, knitting the sweaters that she makes every single year. For the last several years, she has made them for her grandchildren, too. This year, she adds a green sweater to the pile, embroidered with a silver D. 

It takes more time for the rest of the Weasleys to warm up to Draco Malfoy. Ginny is one of the first. She playfully punches Draco’s shoulder (maybe just a little bit too hard) and jokes around with him. She doesn’t mention it yet, but she knows that when the time comes, she’ll be there to tell Draco that if he ever hurts Harry, she’ll be the one to kick his ass. 

Draco meets Victoire and Louis and Dominic Weasley, the eldest of the grandchildren and the children of Bill and Fleur. He makes easy French conversation with Fleur, something that shocks all the Weasleys alike. Harry is the only one that already knew, and so he rolls his eyes and smiles from where he’s sitting, watching Teddy and Victoire play on the couches. 

Hermione and Ron arrive the day before Christmas. Ron is busy with Auror training, and Hermione has become a worldwide ambassador to different magical cultures around the globe. Harry greets them with a warm hug and hugs them again when they share the news of their engagement. 

He shows them to Draco. Ron isn’t furious -- he hasn’t got the time for that -- but he isn’t happy. But when Hermione hugs Draco and tells him that it’s in the past, Ron warms up quickly. shocks Draco by being unfathomably kind to him. “It’s in the past, Draco,” she tells him as she hugs him. 

That Christmas Eve, the table in the Burrow is packed to the absolute maximum. Children, grandchildren, parents, and friends alike sit to eat the feast that Mrs. Weasley (and many of her children and grandchildren) prepared. Harry and Draco sit side by side, elbows touching but neither of them acknowledging it. On Harry’s other side sits Teddy, who is chatting away with Victoire. Near the end of the meal, his godson turns to him and asks what he wants for Christmas.

Harry thinks about it. “Nothing, Teddy. I’ve got it all right here.”

-

After the meal is done, everyone disperses. Most of them are staying the night to spend Christmas morning together, but the Burrow doesn’t have rooms for all of them. Harry finds himself walking out into the falling snow with Draco, Teddy holding onto both of their hands and swinging between them. They’re staying here for the night, but Andromeda is going home, so they’re walking her out. 

There’s no excessive wards on the Burrow because for a very long time, there has been no danger. It’s a force of habit to make sure she’s safe. 

Andromeda asks Teddy if he wants to stay here for the night, and of course he says yes. He’ll see her tomorrow morning, right? So Andromeda hugs him, and then Harry, and then even Draco. 

She looks between the two of them as Teddy skips back inside and startles them when she says, “I’m wondering when it is the two of you will get together.” And without another word, Andromeda apparates away, back to her house by Hogwarts and her fat old cat. 

Draco stares at the spot she disappeared from for a good while, furiously blushing, while Harry turns to him. Neither of them can think of a single thing to say that could contradict her. Finally, Harry breaks the silence by saying they should go back inside before Draco gets cold and grumpy.

Neither of them say anything as they intertwine their fingers, hidden between their coats, and walk back. 

They don’t make it all the way back. Harry halts, turning to Draco. Their faces are only inches apart, breath mixing between them and clouding from the cold. Harry searches Draco’s eyes and says, “You know, I --”

Draco cuts him off by moving forward, closing the space between their lips. The first kiss is short, sweet. Draco moves away far sooner than Harry wants him to. “Is that okay?” he whispers.

Harry smiles and nods before pulling Draco back to his own mouth. This time, their kiss seems to last several hours, or perhaps days. Harry winds his arms around Draco’s waist and pulls him in as Draco moves his own hand to the nape of Harry’s neck, grasping at his hair. Their lips move together, fitting together perfectly as their bodies draw together under the falling snow. Neither of them feel the cold, only aware of each other as they kiss. 

It’s not rough. It’s not desperate. There will be a time to discuss everything, to take it further and make promises (some which can be kept, some which cannot), but that time is later. For now, they hold each other close. 

It’s simple, and it’s sweet, and for now, it’s perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> Please give me suggestions for where you want this to go! And of course, kudos and comments always welcome! :)


End file.
